She Would Come to Me
by The Goliath Beetle
Summary: B/B through Max Brennan's point of view.


She Would Come to Me

* * *

She would come to me, when she was confused, or just wanted company. Now, she goes to Booth. Throughout the years I have known her, when she had an unanswered question, she would always seek me out, and say, "Daddy, I want to talk." Now, she does that to Booth. Only I don't think she uses those exact words. She doesn't really have to. Because he can see right through her. Since she has known Booth, only twice has she come looking for me to advise her—help her. It saddens me that I have such a secondary role in her life now, but at least I know she's safe. At least I know she's with Booth.

The first night she actually wanted to talk, was only weeks after my release. Yes, of course we spoke, we had fun together. I was so thrilled to see genuine happiness on her face in my presence, as opposed to the cold looks she would often give me in jail. But the first night she actually came to me with tears, was that fateful evening that Booth was shot.

You can imagine how paranoid I had become. I was a felon—not convicted, but charged. And God knows how many enemies I had who had heard that I had managed to get my freedom back. So one knock on the door at two in the morning was enough to trigger my fight or flight response. But then I heard it. The apartment I had rented was a dump. And the door was thin and the wood was rotted. But through that horrible door, I heard my baby's muffled sob.

I panicked. What had happened to Tempe? As I swung the door open, I cried, "Baby, what's wrong?"

She looked a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair askew, had her skin paler than usual. "Daddy," she whimpered, and fell into me. We stood there, at the threshold, hugging, for so many hours. She cried into my T-shirt, and buried her head deeper. Finally, she said, "Daddy…Booth died," and burst into another fit of tears.

The second time was only a month ago. And it was so shocking. I didn't know what to say to her. I didn't know what to do. It followed the same pattern. A knock on the door around one AM, and a fit of tears. When she finally managed to speak, she told me that Booth had had feelings for her, and he wanted to give 'them' a chance. And I asked her what was wrong in that. Did she not return his feelings?

She told me she was scared of change. She was a scientist. She could never change. By this time, she was sitting on the couch, crying her eyes out. She said she thought she couldn't love him back, because she just didn't know how. Science couldn't change, and people working with science couldn't change either.

"But science is change," I explained. She looked at me with wide eyes. I said, "Science is nature, baby. And nature is change. Science and nature were like the brain and the heart. One couldn't function without the other. If we couldn't breathe, our brain would shut down, shutting down the heart, and essentially killing us. But if the heart stopped beating, the same reaction would take place. Tempe, science is change."

Like I said, a month has passed from that night. Tempe said Booth was dating someone, some marine biologist. She mentioned that she was also going out with Booth's boss.

Personally, I believe this is stupid. This was just another way to dance around that retrograde—if I might say so—that retrograde invisible line that they have between them. Before Booth had confessed his feelings, which I always knew he had, they were doing the Salsa around that line—twisting, turning, crossing the barrier…sometimes up close, sometimes afar. And now, after that incident, it's been the Robot. Which, might I add, as been out since forever. They're controlling their movements—One Fluid motion; Stop. Another Action; Stop. They are limiting their time spent together, and every awkward moment between them is now like an attack at them—and what about Tempe's new obsession about talking about Booth's girlfriend?

She's hurting herself for no other reason but her inability to face her fear. And I know how logical she likes things, but I can't for the life of me see the logic in doing what she's doing.

And some would even say it's a good idea that Booth and Tempe aren't together. I, for one, have reason to believe that they are 'together'. Not in the sense everyone would accept, but, I have not ever heard of two work partners kissing under mistletoe so that one of them could see her father on Christmas. Yeah, I sweet-talked Caroline Julian to tell me exactly why she let me see my daughter that day. Five steamboats. Sure.

So yeah, I have some very strong feelings towards Booth and Tempe's behavior to each other. Because it's a pointless waste of everybody's time and feelings, and the world would like it a lot better without the immensely annoying invisible line.

And do I mind that I am a secondary character in my daughter's life? Maybe, just a little. But if that means that she would come to me when she doesn't know who to trust…Then I suppose I can make some allowances.


End file.
